Granville Bantock’s chamber works for cello have suffered virtual neglect almost since the day the composer committed them to paper. Fortunately, with this new recording his music has found an enthusiastic and capable champion in Andrew Fuller. These two sonatas for cello and piano, plus a never-before-seen solo cello suite, are a boon to cello fans, and Fuller and pianist Michael Dussek give listeners much to enjoy as they go right to the heart of Bantock’s peculiar mix of English and German Classical sentiments. Dussek especially brings out some nice colors, most notable in the chords and arpeggios he plays to complement the buzzing cello tremolando in the finale of the F-sharp minor Sonata. Fuller is really terrific, though, in the Solo Sonata, from the noble declamatory opening to the dashing finale (he handles the fast stuff much better here than elsewhere).
The two short works for cello and harp are really lovely fillers, somewhat closer to the aesthetic familiar in Bantock’s orchestral music, with their meditative demeanor and elements of folk melody (Hebrew in one, Gaelic in the other). Here the cello playing is just right, and Lucy Wakeford on harp does everything beautifully. Fuller’s late-17th-century Italian cello has a big, rich bass and an equally great medium register. Like many instruments of the period with a modern setup (certain Strads and Amatis excluded), there is a limit to the brilliance in the upper register; so, when his intonation goes awry, as it often does in quick leaps to a high position, or when the fingers don’t quite stop the string properly in rapid passagework, his tone really suffers. The energetic ending of the first movement or the Largamente beginning of the second movement of the Sonata are good examples of this. Dutton Labs’ sound is so natural it’s scary, but everything is exposed. With a minor caveat because of the lapses in intonation, this disc can still be recommended with confidence.
